Intent
Keep TLS certificates valid without manual intervention.
When to use
- Services require HTTPS or mTLS.
- Manual renewals create operational risk.
- You need consistent certificate deployment.
Core mechanics
- Use an ACME client or internal CA.
- Schedule renewals and deploy certificates.
- Reload services and verify validity.
Implementation checklist
- Choose the certificate authority and method.
- Automate issuance and renewal.
- Store certificates securely with correct permissions.
- Deploy and reload dependent services.
- Monitor expiration and renewal success.
Failure modes and mitigations
- Renewal failure -> add retries and alerting.
- Misconfigured deploy -> validate certificate chain.
- Expired certs -> monitor expiration dates.
Observability and validation
- Renewal logs and certificate expiry reports.
- Service health checks after deployment.
Artifacts
- Renewal script or automation config.
- Certificate inventory list.
- Validation output.